Hey y'all: I don't think the OP cares all that much about the rules behind the Traveler's Any-tool and would like to use their environment as a weapon instead. Yes, it's less optimal than using a sledge. Who cares?
Build Idea: Infiltrate. Improvise.:
Human Splintersoul Vigilante
Vigilante Specialization: Avenger
Vigilante Alignment: CG
Social Alignment: LN
Alternate Racial Traits (Needs GM Approval):
Focused Study
The vigilante seems it would be a very flavorful and appropriate choice for the campaign. Splintersoul allows you to play infiltrator a bit better than most, though many archetypes would work great. Choose either Renown or Obscurity depending on whether or not you want your social identity to be a noble or a typical lawful citizen (which would effect which campaign trait you select). Be in your vigilante identity for combats.
The Social Talents, Focused Study, and Eldritch Heritage selections help you be a better infiltrator. You are the king of disguise.
You probably can't assume most improvised weapons can be used with weapon finesse, so Lethal Grace probably won't work sometimes. Going with strength helps with reliability, which practically entails getting Power Attack. You might even want to delay Environment Weapon to level 4 because of this.
Improvised Defense is pretty bad - It doesn't work when you attack, and you want to be attacking. Shield of Fury will help somewhat with AC, though I admit AC is something of a problem with the above build still. I would shuffle the point-buy a tad to get 14 DEX and consider Dodge before that trait.
Lastly, Vital Punishment just works too well with Shikigami Style to ignore, though I wouldn't go any further down the Vital Strike chain even if this build goes to high level. Avengers get Mad Rush at 12 - It's better than what Vital Strike can do, even if it exacerbates the bad AC issue. Still, sometimes you can't charge, and that AoO is nifty.
That Brawler dip is a curiosity for a new player - the benefit it gives is best realized in the hands of a very, very experienced player with a good knowledge of the in-and-outs of the dizzying breadth of available feats. That's not to say new players shouldn't play it - it's just complex is all, almost like a wizard martial. I wonder if the GM's decision to limit your options to 5 was in response to the analysis paralysis you just admitted to having. Still, I think that is a severe under-cutting of the ability. If you have an issue slowing down the game at the table, (which isn't uncommon for new players, don't worry), then the best advice is probably: just don't, it's a game, calm down.
Make the analysis paralysis worse!:
Want to be even more overwhelmed at your options? Read on.
A common feat for Brawlers is Combat Expertise. One could use Martial Flexibility to pick up the combat maneuver feats: Improved Trip, Disarm, Dirty Trick, Reposition, Steal, and, while technically not a combat maneuver, Feint. It is also a frustrating feat tax to a lot of very situational feats and combat styles that are typically ignored in-part because it stands in the way at the 13 Int prerequisite. But not for you - You dipped Brawler. Mirror Move is one such flavorful, usually very weak feat.
Since you should have Improved Unarmed Strike as a Brawler, you could have temporary access to a lot of combat style feats that way. Jabbing Style comes to mind for damage if you ever find yourself unarmed.
Though this last part may be too late to implement in your current build, it centers around a suggestion similar to Melechor's: The Ascetic Style (Unarmed Strike) and Weapon Adept (Versatile) combination. Use feats that benefit your unarmed strikes for any monk weapon (like, Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), Weapon Specialization (Unarmed Strike), Stunning Fist, Jabbing Style, etc.), and turn any weapon you hold into a 'monk' weapon (including your 2-handed sword) for the cost of a modification. You could even modify your back-up longbow to be a "monk" weapon to use any unarmed-strike related feat for ranged attacks. That's flexible, cheeky, and lets you use all of those situational unarmed strike feats with any weapon you have paid to be modified.
Easy on the Intimidate:
Intimidation is a good mechanic with a lot of good feats to boost it. The trick is to recognize that it's a secondary ability to killing things. It works well for a slew of enemies, especially at the level you're playing at, but it probably won't work when you really really really really need to pull all the stops (Case example: Undead are outright immune to it, and they can be a fairly common and powerful enemy.) Keep a couple good feats if you like the mechanic but don't get carried away. Cornugon Smash and Hurtful are probably plenty, even when Signature Skill and Dreadful Carnage are great. In the end, it's your build! New players always make fun mistakes - and going too overboard on Intimidate isn't the worst mistake to do by any means.
What about out-of-combat? What about the party?:
The advantage of having intimidate in the back pocket is you're a lot more sociable than most Fighters out there. Still, carving out an out-of-combat role beyond making a barkeeper spill one too many beans might be a higher priority for the party than doing more damage or improving in-combat intimidation. What challenges does your party have, and where do you think weak spots are in its composition?
Here is a good old post about party roles and the bases that a group in the game are expected to at least half-way fill. It might give you an idea on what to prioritize. If you're the only melee damage dealer, then more strongly consider Greater Weapon Specialization and being a better slaughterer. If you're the only tanky feller with good armor and hitpoints, then helping (will) saves and other defenses might be better. If there isn't a clear mechanical shortcoming that the party has, then be more liberal with the fun stuff that is catching your attention, like in-combat Intimidation.
DeathlessOne seems to prefer tackling the inevitable political realities of a kingdom over making a paradise. What curve balls are being sent your way by the GM? Are they really letting you basically print money and get away with it? That'd let us give more tailored advice.
Commoners:
There is a lot of potential with the myriad of level 1 commoners a kingdom has. Here is a clever optimization guide made for 3.5, though only some options will be available for Pathfinder. It's good for ideas, especially if you want the general population to be able to somewhat defend themselves against threats that DeathlessOne might be thinking of while still being able to work or do a trade. Options normally passed-up by PCs become surprisingly viable for commoners, like slings, old-age, and Skill Focus. You could make a handful of optimized commoner builds (like a ranged combatant commoner with a profession, a melee combatant commoner with a craft, a half-rate medic, etc.) as the guide does and give them to the GM if they're (or you are) inclined to have common folk face atrocities/battle.
If you really feel like burning through money, the Gunsmithing feat can be taken by a commoner that isn't even proficient in firearms. With no skill check required (only a single skill rank in Craft Alchemy), a single level 1 commoner can churn out 1k worth of ammunition, gunpowder, or a firearm in a day. That's a keg of black powder a day at 1/10th the cost. Neat. Slings would still be better than firearms, but they could make this happen.
Why Clerics? Consider Druids!:
I would favor Druids. Slow days at the hospital could be a source of free, plentiful potions with Druid Herbalism. This might be too cheesy for your GM, so discuss that option with them first. It's powerful enough to make alchemists cry.
Druids also have a world-changing advantage over Clerics with the Plant Growth spell. The enrichment option would be a powerful option in a kingdom builder.
Perhaps having a mix of Druids/Clerics would work best, since Clerics can spontaneously cast healing spells and technically get more spells through their domains than Druids. Still, free potion production is extremely powerful.
For the path that the party kills the dragon/princess without noticing the witch's identity, I imagine the disguised witch could lead the party to "the king's castle" to celebrate the end of "the terrible and evil dragon." The witch could lead them to a trap they planned with crazed wild animals or minions. For a more interesting, political route, the witch could try to get away from the party (maybe they go bathing in a creek to get the "dragon" blood off of her if the entire party happens to be of men who don't have prestigitation as a spell known, lie about needing to use the restroom and run away, or just by running away), gain a new disguise as a nameless travelling merchant, and enter the castle decrying the death of the princess by the hands of the party to enrage the king. After the king attempts to kill the party off (whether successful or otherwise), the witch can assume the disguise of the princess and exonerate the party, saying that it was the party that saved her from a dragon but lost track of her while going through the woods when she stopped to gather flowers/use the restroom/bathe/whatever. The party is celebrated (undeservedly) as heroes. If they are living and have figured out the witch's ploy, they'd have to admit to killing the princess to expose the witch. If throughout all of this the party remains clueless of the witch's disguises and lies, the witch becomes the queen when the king dies of an undetected poison. For this option, I'd advise the witch to mechanically be a Sorcerer with ranks in Disguise and Bluff (though I don't know how you are building the NPCs). Your story's witch doesn't need to be a Witch to be a witch.
With the TPK, I think the party should realistically have a chance in escaping Paladins. Paladins aren't quick, sneaky, or skilled trackers (unless they are gest/tristalted too). Instead of trying to make a TPK inevitable, I would consider giving them something of a chance to escape the king's wrath. That avenue's Part 2 would lead to the party trying to assassinate the king, attempt bluffing innocence, or running away (Yay! Survival's tracking mechanics can see some use!).
As for the route where the princess is saved and the witch is dead, it could be a happily-ever-after ending when they get to the castle. Simple stories can be nice. (:
Every Pathfinder class has something interesting to offer for an evil PC (minus a normal Paladin). Since your friend has tons of options, let's try to narrow down what they're looking for.
Do they have any drafted backstories to draw inspiration from? (At level 15, a character is going to have a past.)
What kind of characters have they enjoyed playing before?
Do they want to be a martial character?
Does "decent" mean DPS, or does it include other ways of being effective in combat?
There are also party composition considerations:
Is the Anti-Paladin going to be the party's Face? Is a Face really needed in your campaign?
Does the party need more spellcasting?
Is there somebody already taking the healing/mending sub-role?
I know simply counting as a tiefling would not grant the tiefling's racial traits, but this question is about the Fiendish Heritage feat being applied to a human that lacks those racial traits.
I would think that if the tiefling's racial traits were prerequisites to the feat, they'd be listed as prerequisites for the feat, but I can't blame SKR for being unable to foresee the unclear interactions between two feats made nine years apart or being a little messy at the very start of Pathfinder.
Seeing that this interaction can happen, how would you rules gurus go about this? I think the most sane GM would say that the darkness spell-like ability and normal racial modifiers of tieflings are prerequisites for the feat that were thrown in the text instead of listed as a prerequisite, preventing this awkward interaction, but I really hope that isn't the case just for the knowledge that a there is a normal-looking human in somebody's table that never goes hungry in a desert.
What happens to her ability scores? Does she have to keep the +2 to any ability score human's get because she doesn't have "a tiefling’s usual racial ability modifiers" to swap, can she swap the +2 for any of the tiefling modifiers, or does she keep her +2 to any ability score on top of one of the modifiers presented in the chart? If she can have both modifiers, can she have the +2 racial adjustment to an ability score modified by the tiefling adjustments?
What about the "Variant Tiefling Abilities" mechanic? Does she gain no benefit because she doesn't have a darkness spell-like ability to swap out, per this sentence,:
Fiendish Heritage wrote:
The abilities presented here replace a tiefling’s darkness spell-like ability, with a caster level equals to its class level.
or does she not have to have the spell-like ability as this sentence would insinuate?:
Fiendish Heritage wrote:
In addition, you may roll on Table: Variant Tiefling Abilities three times and choose the most favorable ability.
Feats:
1.) Improved Initiative & Additional Traits [Reactionary & Fate's Favored]
3.) Lookout
5.) Two-Weapon Fighting
7.) Die for Your Master
9.) Point-Blank Shot
11.) Rapid Shot
^I’d order these differently if I were starting from a level lower than 11. Since initiative is likely good enough, I would consider having Point-Blank Shot at level 1 instead of Additional Traits so Precise Shot can be picked up, but Fate's Favored works really well with the Foresight School and their initiative might as well be absurd.
Discoveries:
2.) Tumor Familiar - Dodo (+4 Initiative)
*Precise Bombs for free @ Level 2*
4.) Tanglefoot Bomb
6.) Spontaneous Healing
8.) Fast Bombs
10.) Force Bomb
Prepared Spells:
Dimensional Anchor would be useful to shut down chances for enemies to escape.
These Wizards always have a full round of actions during the surprise round, absurd initiative (1d20 + 17, maybe more if you have a boosted DEX), and decent survivability.
They also have nukes.
The Skald:
Support in the form of healing and buffing. Get Noble Scion for CHA to initiative, and get Lookout, Improved Initiative, and Additional Traits to get decent initiative.
The Other Guy:
He's there to carry all the loot this party will get after encounters, including the one with the PCs. Pump strength and get Spellcut so he has an extra layer of defense against spells. Supports the Wizards, decent martial, and he could go all out with the initiative feats like the others. Since Inspire Courage's morale bonuses to saves wouldn't stack with the Skald's Insightful Contemplation, Dirge of Doom might be a better option in the fight (and Improved Dirge of Doom would cover the entire battlefield).
If the PC party is evil (Were those zombies righteously made?), then the Holy Tactician Paladin / Unchained Rogue would be a better support option. They could grant Lookout to all allies the entire day (sparing the entire party a feat, and the Rogue's Uncanny Dodge guarantees that it's always in effect) and could change the granted teamwork feat to Coordinated Charge as a swift action. The feat slot you just saved the Wizards could go to Charging Hurler, but I'm not sure if bombs can be used in this case since Fast Bombs only lets you make full attacks with bombs, not make bombs as a free action. Even if the charging combo doesn't work, you're still sparing the party from all having to take Lookout, at least opening up the Precise Shot feat that wasn't available otherwise.
But I am not sure what the issue is with the Spirit Dancer's Spirit Aura, as it basically trades in the unlimited range for the ability to affect allies who didn't make that morning's séance.
You're right, I misread it. The Spirit Dancer constantly grants allies within 30ft a Seance Boon. I read it thinking the Spirit Aura limited the Seance Boon benefits to allies within 30ft in addition to losing the ability to grant Seance Boons at all.
avr wrote:
@Milkshaketeer: on the same principle as this, you probably have your wish with regard to the Prowler at World's End getting bloodrager counting as effective levels in medium. Not the others, true.
YAY! I'll update a rules post I had of the archetype awhile ago with this finding.
Derklord wrote:
In any case, Medium is actually fine if you mostly concentrate on one spirit, selecting other only when faced with special challenges.
Since versatility is the Medium's main shtick, I don't like the idea of usually going with one optimized spirit and largely ignoring the rest. The main issue is that Pathfinder outside of the Medium encourages focusing your abilities. The Fighter focuses on combat feats and improving weapons and armor, and is even better off choosing one weapon to specialize in. The Wizard focuses on spellcasting and item creation feats and tries to get items to improve their casting (scrolls, wands, headband, etc.). A Bard is best served choosing feats that would improve their support capabilities (like Lingering Performance) and does enough in that department to let their own martial prowess suffer.
Squiggit wrote:
The problem with the Medium is more that it's at odds with that idea. Your general investment in items, feats and stats wants you to specialize but your core class feature is all about switching gears from day to day.
You are absolutely right.
The Medium is different: A class devoted to fulfilling any role as needed on a day-to-day basis. A Fighter stand-in one day, a support caster the next, and a Rogue replacement the day after that. It's fine that Mediums don't excel quite as well as other classes in each of the roles, but it's impossible for them to be even passable as everything the class encourages them to be. Resources, especially ability scores and feats, largely chain the Medium to one spirit.
For feats, I think a solution is making custom-made feats for Mediums that cater to their "everyman" role; feats that have different effects based on what spirit is channeled for the day (or primary spirit channeled for higher levels). For example, a feat can grant Spell Penetration to Archmage Mediums, Weapon Focus or Specialization to Champions, Combat Reflexes for Guardians, Enforcer for Hierophants, Swift Aid to Marshals, and Signature Skill or Skill Focus for Tricksters. This would encourage versatility instead of the pigeon-holing that's currently optimal.
For the MAD issues the Medium has, I think it wouldn't be that bad if they got more out of Charisma. If there were an "Improved Spirit Bonus" feat for Mediums that grants an untyped bonus equal to their Charisma modifier to the Spirit Bonus would be flavorful and would help the class be better at each role they fill. I recognize this would be a considerable power boost, that is what the Medium needs. Since the purpose of the feat is to make switching spirits on a daily basis more desirable, a caveat in the feat could be that this increase to the Spirit Bonus does not apply to a spirit channeled the day before. This would encourage players to at least alternate between two spirits.
I think there should be mechanical benefits to Mediums who don't specialize or refuse to be tied down to one spirit, as that is the spirit of the class after all.
On the archetype topic:
I wish the Poleiheira Adherent did not receive the "Great Odyssey" abilities. Instead, I wish they would get the benefits of the Travel Domain using Intelligence instead of Wisdom for those abilities. Instead of domain spells and spell slots, they'd get a scaling improvement to carrying capacity starting at level 1 (Since travelers tend to carry things and collect trinkets, and Wizards typically have low Strength). I would also add a note on how the bonded book works with the Fast Study Arcane Discovery (the new preparation times would be 5 minutes to fully prepare and 4 rounds to prepare the minimum), a clause that the bonded book reverts to how it was upon death if a Wizard is brought back to life, and require that the bonded book be a travelling spellbook. This would make the archetype almost on-par with a vanilla Wizard, keep the flavor of the original archetype, and clear up some situational issues a Poleiheira currently faces.
The following classes are generally accepted to be the weakest ones in Pathfinder: Fighter, Brawler, Rogue, Cavalier, Samurai, Gunslinger, Swashbuckler, Monk. Apart from the Rogue *, you'll notice that none of these classes have a daily or on levelup choice **.
The Medium has the reverse issue: Tons of decent options made daily with none of them being that great in the hands of the 2/3 BAB, d8 HD, more-MAD-than-core-monk, <1/2 caster that becomes the GM's NPC when they want to be competent more than a few times a day.
Since we aren't discussing errata for base classes, I wish the Reanimated Medium was made to be more difficult to kill instead of easier to resurrect. A Medium who has already died would probably want to prevent that from happening again. It still wouldn't make the Medium worth killing, but only this 3PP archetype does that.
I wish the Spirit Eater wouldn't have to succeed a rather high will save or gain points of influence to do its defining ability.
I wish the Spirit Dancer had Spirit Aura alter and not replace Shared Seance, since RAW it wouldn't work without it.
I wish the Wendo Caller archetype granted Tongue of the Sun and Moon at 7th level instead of a limited alternative.
Yet more than the above, I wish the Prowler at World's End Bloodrager archetype was fixed so the Medium class could be bypassed altogether. RAW, the Spirit Surge ability received and the intermediate Marshal power are useless since the prerequisite Spirit Bonus isn't given, the Seance Boon from the Marshal Spirit is useless since you don't get Shared Seance, the lesser and intermediate powers of the Trickster Spirit and the intermediate Guardian power are useless since Bloodrager levels don't count as Medium levels, Chosen of the Spirits might as well function as Beast Shape III, and Taboo is not granted to the archetype despite it getting a specific taboo. It's a mess, but if it was errata'ed, we could enjoy the flavor of the Medium with the strength of the Bloodrager.
Can the Air Barrier Hex from the Wind Shaman only be used a handful of times in the Shaman's career, or can it be used all day with no limitation (i.e. The barrier expires, so the Shaman immediately uses a standard action to put it back up)? It reads:
"Air Barrier (Su): The shaman creates an invisible shell of air that grants her a +4 armor bonus to AC. At 7th level and every 4 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 2. At 13th level, this barrier causes incoming arrows, rays, and other ranged attacks requiring an attack roll against her to suffer a 50% miss chance. The shaman can use this barrier for 1 hour per shaman level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-hour increments."
Page 6 — A court poet gains the following ability:
"Practiced Orator (Su): At 3rd level, a court poet gains 3 more rounds of raging song per day. He gains 3 additional rounds of raging song at 6th level and every 3 levels thereafter. This ability replaces rage powers."
Well I'd be a court jester. They did get around...
I hope that's sarcasm - that's a 31-point buy right there!
The party looks like it might need a face. Before the wipe, it had a Paladin and a Bard. Now it doesn't seem to have a CHA-dependent character (unless the Cleric likes channel energy and has a high enough INT for skill ranks, but it might be better for the cleric to put higher scores into STR, DEX, and CON to be useful in melee). The Wizard can rock the knowledge skills and the Rogue could cover everything else, but it is hard to see it cover the face skills well. Unlike an Unchained Rogue, they could use a bit of STR for damage, and I don't know if they have the stats to be viable in combat and have a decent CHA. Syries recommended Paladin, and I think that is a dependable option. With a Paladin, you'd get more out of CHA than a Bloodrager and be better at Diplomacy.
Yet I can't help but think a better option is a Sacred Huntsmaster Inquisitor with the Conversion Inquisition. The Conversion Inquisition lets you use WIS for the CHA-dependent face skills to be the best face in the party, and you'd have enough ranks for Handle Animal and Perception. The Sacred Huntsmaster archetype isn't as good of a pure front-liner as a vanilla Inquisitor, but I think the improved action economy would make up for it, especially since it offers a possible flanking partner for the Rogue. Also, Inquisitors get Bane, combat buff spells, teamwork feats, a decent initiative bonus and medium armor to hold their own on the front lines.
Throw in a 31-point buy and you are terrifying.
Of course, the best option is what you'd have fun playing.
RAW: This archetype receives ineffectual rage powers.
RAI: Rage powers work with Insightful Contemplation as they would with Inspired Rage.
It's unfortunate this Skald archetype hasn't gotten too much attention the past year and hasn't been fixed. It would work well with a party of spellcasters.
...and nearly we always face against 12-13 opponents.
avr wrote:
Against that many enemies you're going to need help on the front line no matter what you play...
Palinurus wrote:
Also worth considering classes that get a companion (summoner, druid, sylvan sorcerer or some cleric domains)if you are regularly in combat with that many opponents - having a T-rex or big cat can really help at these levels.
Action economy seems like the biggest issue, and the others are hinting at that. A Ranger, Druid, Summoner, Spiritualist, Hunter, or Hunter-like Inquisitor would get an extra target on the field. Your own martial strength wouldn't match a fighter's, but companions/phantoms/eidolons can be durable enough for front-lining.
... get the Social Grace and Skill Familiarity Social Talents ...
Correction: The Social Grace talent doesn't stack with the bonus you get from the Many Guises and Everyman talents, and only applies in the social identity. Skill Familiarity would still be solid.
I just realized that spell is safe for an Herbalist Alchemist or Lore Shaman to lose the intelligence check on. They don't cast arcane spells, and they don't rely on either Intelligence or Charisma. They'd lose a high-level extract/mid-level spell for no effect, but it's a far lower cost than other classes. With the Herbalist, you can have a plant in the party's favorite tavern who's scheming to end most intelligent life for the preservation of nature, partnering up with some powerful beasts in the process.
Considering how much magical firepower a party at 15th level should have, I think a little evil fellow trying to compete with that with magical tricks of her own would be spectacularly outdone in most cases. See Invisibility is a level 1 spell after all.
I think a solid option for an atypical BBEG is a single-class Thought Killer Vigilante.
She'd be a respected priestess to the public and an evil schemer while in the vigilante identity, and by taking the Many Guises and Everyman Social Talents, she could be the peasant, the beggar, or even the party's favorite bartender. This villain will have constant nondetection, could periodically examine the party's thoughts to see if they suspect her, and could reliably out-bluff the most paranoid Diviner Wizard.
If you make her human with the focused study alternate racial trait, get the Social Grace and Skill Familiarity Social Talents and possibly some customized skill-boosting magic items, she could be the party's male torchbearer one day and distressed granny the next with them none the wiser. (Honestly, the magic items would likely hinder her disguise more than help, as she'd have to explain to the party why she lights up when detect magic is inevitably cast when they all go dungeon crawling.)
Is she a tiny villain with invisibility? No. Is she particularly powerful? No. Yet she is capable of observing a competent party day after day while tending to her ultimate evil plan.
If a 200 year-old level 20 human with Fiendish Obedience (and Damned Disciple) who worships Haagenti to get the Immortal Chymist Evangelist Boon fails to do the obedience one day, does she die?
... No where in the Phantom Weapon description does it say you get to choose the details of the weapon, just the type of weapon. ...
... As for the giant statue weapons, I'd guess at 'No'. Mainly because they would be too large for you to wield them. ...
... Also, don't forget that your Phantom Weapon is a creature on it's own. It is a spirit (of war and combat no less) with its own mind and ego. It might not appreciate being used as an Evertool...
If I can make an ectoplasmic chair, can I not make it Jacobean? Since "improvised weapon" is a weapon type, can I not choose to make my improvised weapon a chair? Is the weapon forbidden from being inappropriately sized? The "you can't materialize what you don't know" argument seems correct (got ahead of myself there), but the limits of the Phantom Blade still has its ambiguities.
As far as the sentient weapon itself goes, I suppose I'd have to earn some brownie points to convince it to go along with the shenanigans I want it to.
Since improvised weapons can be basically any item that's not designed to be a weapon and a Phantom Blade can materialize improvised weapons if proficient in them (with Improvisational Focus), could a Phantom Blade at 7th level make their weapon a readable book in the morning? Could this book contain very secret information (like, a copy of somebody's diary)? Wouldn't these be improvised weapons that the Phantom Blade can materialize?
Could the Phantom Blade materialize a special key to access a secret room?
Also, since one can knock down large statues on their enemies in combat and those would be considered improvised weapons (statues aren't meant for combat), could the weapon be of a gigantic size? Could the improvised weapon be a giant ball like what's in "Raider's of the Lost Ark" that can be rolled down a hill (and called back to do it again at 9th level)?
Could the Phantom Blade make the weapon a bunch of coins, since coins can be improvised ranged weapons? Could they appear platinum, and what would it take to see that they are ectoplasmic copies?
Since just about anything not designed to be a weapon can be an improvised weapon, does the Phantom Blade unlock extreme versatility if they get Improvisational Focus?
What you are looking for, throwing down idols from your hand that suddenly increase in size and attack your enemies, can be realized at level 12 at the earliest.
There are some mechanical familiar/companion options that work from level 1 if you can't wait that long. They may not satisfy this specific build concept, but they don't require spells or crafting to work.
What might be best for you is creating a magical crafting master that gets the Craft Construct feat. The Promethean Alchemist might be an interesting choice, but the Wizard is the crafting king since they have access to many spells and get a few bonus feats.
Class Feature Mechanical Buddies:
The Tinkerer Alchemist and the Clocksmith Wizard archetypes give you a mechanical familiar, which could look like a small idol if you wish.
The Construct Rider Alchemist grants a beefier mechanical friend (animal companions are far stronger than familiars), but you'd have to work with your GM on how much of a mount you want it to be.
Shrink Item can shrink person-sized statues into idols you can carry. I don't think there is a spell/ability that lets you do the opposite of making small items big.
Animate Objects lets you make fighting partners out of objects, which can be used on your idols/statues.
Making the above spells permanent through Permanency lets you shrink/enlarge your idols at will and have your idols always ready to enter a fight. Without it, you'd have to cast Animate Objects at the start of each fight and Shrink Item at the end to make the objects a size you can carry. However, Permanency for both of these spells costs 22,500gp per idol. Also, the soonest you could possibly do this is level 12 as an Arcanist or Exploiter Wizard with the Potent Magic exploit. You'd have to wait until level 14 to do this as a normal Wizard or Sorcerer. Arcanist would likely be the best of the three for a newcomer to magic in Pathfinder.
A phantom blade begins play with an ectoplasmic sentient weapon known as a phantom weapon whose weapon type is chosen by the phantom blade. The weapon type must be one with which the phantom blade is proficient. A phantom weapon functions similarly to the black blade of the bladebound magus archetype except as noted on the Phantom Weapon Progression table. A phantom blade with this class feature can’t have a phantom of any kind, even from another class.
At the heart of this question is whether or not Catch Off-Guard/Throw Anything grants proficiency with melee/ranged improvised weapons or merely eliminates the penalty to attack with them. Looking at all of the weapon proficiency feats, eliminating the penalty seems synonymous with granting proficiency.
Simple Weapon Proficiency:
You are trained in the use of basic weapons.
Benefit: You make attack rolls with simple weapons without penalty.
Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
Martial Weapon Proficiency:
Choose a type of martial weapon. You understand how to use that type of martial weapon in combat.
Benefit: You make attack rolls with the selected weapon normally (without the non-proficient penalty).
Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
Exotic Weapon Proficiency:
Choose one type of exotic weapon, such as the spiked chain or whip. You understand how to use that type of exotic weapon in combat, and can utilize any special tricks or qualities that exotic weapon might allow.
Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefit: You make attack rolls with the weapon normally.
Normal: A character who uses a weapon with which he is not proficient takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls.
Catch Off-Guard:
Foes are surprised by your skilled use of unorthodox and improvised weapons.
Benefit: You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised melee weapon. Unarmed opponents are flat-footed against any attacks you make with an improvised melee weapon.
Normal: You take a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with an improvised weapon.
Throw Anything:
You are used to throwing things you have on hand.
Benefit: You do not suffer any penalties for using an improvised ranged weapon. You receive a +1 circumstance bonus on attack rolls made with thrown splash weapons.
Normal: You take a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with an improvised weapon.
Looking at the other Phantom Blade threads, it is clear that the phantom weapon's weapon type chosen doesn't have to be compatible with Spell Combat or Spellstrike and that it was the intent of the designers to have it that way.
What I want to know is this: Can I whack some heads with an ectoplasmic chair?
Nothing about it changes that they disappear when the spiritualist is unconscious or asleep. They return to the ethereal plane. Don't take naps after summoning them.
If I sleep, I haven't channeled a new hero-god phantom. My channeled hero-god phantom shouldn't then go away.
I'm starting to think, though, that the "remains until a new one is channeled" part can get out of hand.
Is the hero-god phantom immune to banishment or dismissal?
Is it immune to being sent to the Ethereal Plane when it drops to -1000 hit points?
Does it stick around when the Priest of the Fallen Spiritualist dies for good?
In each of these cases, a new hero-god hasn't been channeled, and a hero-god phantom is different from a normal phantom, per the words: "This alters phantom and replaces shared consciousness."
In the Phantom class feature text of a normal Spiritualist:
"While fully manifested, a phantom can’t be returned to the Ethereal Plane by means of dispel magic, but spells such as dismissal and banishment work normally. Whenever the spiritualist is unconscious or asleep, the phantom immediately returns to the spiritualist’s consciousness. If the spiritualist dies, the phantom is returned to the Ethereal Plane, and can’t return to the spiritualist’s consciousness until 24 hours after the spiritualist is brought back to life."
"A priest of the fallen can channel many different hero-god phantoms, though only one at a time.
These spirits will not suffer being confined in a mortal’s consciousness and must be manifested in ectoplasmic or incorporeal form or they return to the Ethereal Plane. They each have an emotional focus depending on their personality and retain some of their hero-god powers, determined by their mythic archetype. A priest of the fallen can channel a hero-god phantom with a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform. A priest of the fallen can channel only one hero-god phantom per 24 hours, but once channeled, a hero-god phantom remains until a new one is channeled."
If I am a Priest of the Fallen, can I keep my hero-god phantom around in ectoplasmic or incorporeal form when I sleep? If not, if I channel a hero-god phantom in the morning and take a nap at noon, am I barred from having a phantom for the rest of the day? Can I channel the hero-god phantom I did in the morning?
Almost 4 years later and the archetype is still off on this.
I think the ability was meant to be awarded at level 10 and improve at level 16 as the Hunter's ability of the same name does, but RAW seems to be clear that the improvement is awarded as soon as you get the ability.
What's been the PFS ruling all this time? Admitting it's a typo? Going by what's written since the archetype is strong enough as it is?
Sorry to revive this post only to ask more questions instead of answering them, but I suppose that asking questions is at least half the reason for this forum.
Consider a 20th-level Ankou's Shadow Slayer gnome who is wanting to throw a fun show for the little kiddo gnomes back at home. He wants to unleash all of his shadows to simultaneously cast all of his 1/day Gnome Magic spells using his shadows to cast the spells for him, but he does not know if he can and does not want to look like a fool in front of the cheeky brats. Round-by-round accounting technically is in effect because one of the young gnomes is trying to get his hands out of a puzzle trap constructed by the party's Bard and is attempting consecutive intelligence checks.
Unfettered Shadows:
At 20th level, as a standard action an ankou’s shadow can unfetter all of his shadow doubles for 1 minute. While unfettered, each shadow double can move and attack as if it were the ankou’s shadow without using any of his actions. A creature struck by a shadow double can attempt a Will save (DC 20 + the ankou’s shadow’s Intelligence modifier) each time it takes damage to recognize the illusion. If it succeeds, the target treats all the shadow doubles as 20% real, as the spell shadow conjuration. The shadow doubles cannot use the shadow double ability. The ankou’s shadow can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier.
Could he use a standard action to unfetter all of his shadow doubles and have his shadow doubles do their actions the same round on his turn?
Could the shadow doubles do actions other than moving or attacking (i.e. using the spell-like abilities of prestigitation, dancing lights, and ghost sound to make a spectacular, though short, show)?
Are there any feats or effects that would make the shadows any more real if they start attacking an undercover goblin when both of you aren't buying the act?
I think swarming is exclusive to ratfolk unless I'm missing something.
The Swarm Fighter gains a similar ability at the 5th and 9th levels, but it's not the "Swarming" racial trait and you get it rather late.
If the issue is a ratfolk in a party of other races wanting to take advantage of the swarming trait, the Scurrying Swarmer feat allows a Ratfolk to act as if another ally had the trait (and whatever teamwork feats you have).
Sharing Hunter's Bond is a move action, so you will still have a standard action left. You could use a standard action to make a single attack at your highest BAB bonus, but you cannot make a full attack. A full attack is a full-round action that uses up your move and standard actions. Even if you didn't "move", you still used your move action with Hunter's Bond.
My DM is a bit strict, can someone explain why it's 3 attacks?
Natural Attacks wrote:
Natural Attacks
Most creatures possess one or more natural attacks (attacks made without a weapon). These attacks fall into one of two categories, primary and secondary attacks. Primary attacks are made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and add the creature’s full Strength bonus on damage rolls. Secondary attacks are made using the creature’s base attack bonus –5 and add only 1/2 the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls. If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 times the creature’s Strength bonus on damage rolls. This increase does not apply if the creature has multiple attacks but only takes one. If a creature has only one type of attack, but has multiple attacks per round, that attack is treated as a primary attack, regardless of its type. You do not receive additional natural attacks for a high base attack bonus. Instead, you receive additional attack rolls for multiple limb and body parts capable of making the attack (as noted by the race or ability that grants the attacks).
1.) Does one have to be catfolk to take the archetype or is this an archetype made with catfolk in mind that any race can take?
2.) Do you gain the Spirit Bonus ability from the Medium?
The Prowler at World's End Bloodrager Archetype grants the Medium's Spirit and Spirit Surge abilities. The archetype does not mention the Spirit Bonus ability at all, just the Spirit Surge. Spirit Surge does not come into effect without the Spirit Bonus ability failing, so there is no point to receive Spirit Surge without Spirit Bonus.
3.) Do you gain the Shared Seance ability?
The Medium mentions shared seance in the Spirit class feature, though Shared Seance is a separate class feature that the Prowler archetype mentions nothing about. If a Prowler does not gain Shared Seance, then the text about sharing seances in the Spirit ability is for no effect and the fantastic Marshal Spirit Boon has no effect.
4.) Do you gain the Taboo ability?
The Prowler archetype provides a taboo but does not explicitly grant the Taboo ability (which is separate from the Spirit/Spirit Surge abilities). This appears to mean that the Prowler has no mechanical reason to care about the taboo when they do not get any harms or benefits from it.
5.) Is the Prowler at World's End archetype compatible with the Primalist archetype? For example, could a Prowler/Primalist at 4th level gain two first level rage powers instead of Destined Strike?
6.) Do Bloodrager levels count as Medium levels for the spirit powers? (I'm looking at the Trickster for this one.)
I know I'm a little late to the party here, but what is the reasoning behind limiting the Investigator from compatible Rogue archetypes?
An Investigator has the Trapfinding and Trap Sense abilities that a Rogue does at the levels a Rogue does, and there are Rogue archetypes that only modify these class features.
What bars an archetype from being applied to a class that matches it? The only other place I can see core class features being this close is with the Ninja and Samurai alternate classes that can take archetypes from Rogue and Cavalier, respectively.
It makes sense flavor-wise that an Investigator can use the archetypes of one of its parent classes, and it seems intended that they can when the features are the same.
Relevant (Equivalent?) Class Features:
Rogue's Trapfinding wrote:
A rogue adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.
Rogue's Trap Sense wrote:
At 3rd level, a rogue gains an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger from traps, giving her a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise to +2 when the rogue reaches 6th level, to +3 when she reaches 9th level, to +4 when she reaches 12th level, to +5 at 15th, and to +6 at 18th level. Trap sense bonuses gained from multiple classes stack.
Investigator's Trapfinding wrote:
An investigator adds 1/2 his level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and to Disable Device checks (minimum 1). An investigator can use Disable Device to disarm magical traps.
Investigator's Trap Sense wrote:
At 3rd level, an investigator gains an intuitive sense that alerts him to danger from traps, granting him a +1 bonus on Reflex saving throws to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps. At 6th level and every 3 levels thereafter, these bonuses increase by 1 (to a maximum of +6 at 18th level).
Thank you! (@Diego - I just looked it up, Spellsong for bards and Conceal Spell for anybody else does what I was thinking of. I'll keep that in mind for future shenanigans.)
Suppose a wizard has a fondness of music, so he chooses the Two-World Magic trait so that he can use Summon Instrument. One day, this wizard chooses to prepare a 2nd-level spell slot for a Silent, Stilled Summon Instrument, hoping to pleasantly surprise a crowd of commoners with music without a chance of the people freaking out over her casting a spell in their midst.
Is that legal? Per the Silent Spell metamagic feat:
Silent Spell wrote:
Special: Bard spells cannot be enhanced by this feat.
Summon Instrument is drawn from the bard spell list, so is it treated as a bard spell in this regard?
Similarly, how does the Questioner Investigator interact with Silent Spell? All of her spells are drawn from the bard spell list, but do they count as bard spells? These spells do not seem to count as bard spells when it comes to arcane spell failure in light armor, so would they for metamagic?
1.) The Mnemostiller cannot gain the mutagen ability.
2.) Fey Mutagen interacts with other effects as though it were a mutagen.
3.) ???
4.) The Mnemostiller cannot gain the Fey Mutagen discovery.
RAI, I doubt it. RAW I think so, but only because the Fey Mutagen is not the specific mutagen, cognatogen, or inspiring cognatogen abilities that are barred.
Oddly enough, the Fey Mutagen came before the Mnemostiller archetype, so I think the designers either thought the archetype's wording was clear enough that specifically calling out the Fey Mutagen was unnecessary (likely) or they forgot about the discovery when writing the archetype.
Obviously not everything that works with regular mutagens will work with cognatogens; some consideration will need to be applied since not every corner case can be spelled out given the limited space.
And they still take an hour to create.
No, they are not...
I know this is a dead FAQ, but I'm new to this and I have a question:
Does the Altered State Fiendish Obedience Evangelist Boon of Haagenti therefore not apply to cognatogens? Or the Beastmorph archetype or many discoveries for that matter?
I don't understand why cognatogen would have ability damage and all the limitations of mutagens without the benefits if they otherwise work "...just like the mutagen ability." Naming that Infuse Mutagen works on cognatogens does not automatically preclude other abilities/discoveries from doing the same. In fact, I would think it would be a precedent for other abilities to do the same when no language (clearly) says otherwise.
